WALL•E: Built Ford Tough

Pixar's Feature Films WALL•E
#1

A few questions about WALL•E.

  1. How come WALL•E didn’t burst into flames or melt when passing that star? At least his solar panels’ film might have melted, right? off-T: How come that star’s colour was visible, since stars are still bright no matter where you are.
  2. When WALL•E was struck by lightning, it didn’t hurt him too much. But when [spoil]AUTO zapped him[/spoil], he was pretty hurt by that. :confused: It’s probably bcause the lightning wasn’t as long as [spoil]AUTO’s shock[/spoil], but there’s enough electricity in a lightning bolt to power the whole world for 10 minutes.
  3. WALL•E is a robot. He was out in the rain. Does that make sense?
  4. In the Buy n Large WALL•E infomercial, a disclaimer says that

So the question is: How tough is WALL•E?

Edited for spoilers. – Mitch
Thanks Mitch! :smiley: – A113

#2

Interesting questions, A113.

  1. I guess WALL-E could be made of some sort of uber metal that humans have made in the future. That, or Pixar just wanted to make this part look pretty and thought that it was worth the mistake in WALL-E being able to survive in that sort of heat. And to the second part of your question, I’m not really sure what you mean.

  2. Well, I guess people have survived being struck by lightning, so a robot could. But yes, there has to be a comparison made between being struck by lightning and [spoil]AUTO’s zapper thing[/spoil]. I’m not sure how that sort of thing works, but I guess lightning is just different to whatever [spoil]AUTO[/spoil] had, and [spoil]AUTO’s one was built to stun (and potentially kill)[/spoil] both humans and robots, I presume. It sort of depends.

  3. Just gotta put that down to the advanced technology that humans had developed by that point. Otherwise, whenever any of the WALL-E robots were doing their clean-up, they’d all just shut down or get destroyed by water, and that would be pointless, so the humans must’ve developed some way of waterproofing their circuits or something.

  4. I don’t think the WALL-E range, as a whole, was a very tough sort of robot. But they would have to be strong enough to withstand different weather conditions and that sort of thing. In WALL-E’s case, I also like to think that because of his personality, he was sort of more resiliant. I know it sounds silly, as he was technically built using the same parts as all of the other WALL-Es, but it always makes me think of, for example, of cancer patients- some manage to survive, and others do not, and it seems as though those with greater willpower manage to live longer. With WALL-E, it’s as though because of his personality, he’s able to keep going beyond his usual physical capabilities.

Edited for spoilers. – Mitch

#3

Interesting questions…

Taking into account the time frame/year in which WALL•E was manufactured, operated, and eventually abandoned to clean up Earth’s deposits, it’s conclusive that he was specifically built to withstand such catastrophes and basic environmental changes such as rain, wind, and, perhaps, even small bouts/shocks of lightning. Robots constructed by the Buy N’ Large corporation only advanced further and further over the years, as was demonstrated by EVE and other mechanisms we saw on the Axiom. WALL•E, although one of the earlier installments, was still built to last for an extended period of time, possibly because the humans realized where their planet was headed and made to create a durable, long-lasting robot to “clean up the mess”, as it were.

Shifting over to your questions…

1) My guess would be that the answer revolves either around extreme durability or “artist’s license/creative license”. The animators may have simply taken some liberties with the film so as to by-pass answering such questions as these. Either that, or WALL•E is more durable than we think he is.

As for the visibility of the star’s color: Well, I imagine it wouldn’t have looked as “cool” had they not colored it. Audiences appreciate that type of thing, I suppose. (snigger)

2) Again, I’m guessing that the artists took some liberties here. Like you said, though, the lightning bolt only lasted for a second, whereas [spoil]AUTO’s zap[/spoil] lasted longer. The fact that WALL•E was able to endure the latter electrical shock for as long as he did kind of surprised me, so perhaps he was built to withstand that sort of thing?

3) In the Buy N’ Large disclaimer, it states that WALL•E is not designed to function under water or in active water flows. By “under water”, I assume that they mean completely swallowed up by a vast body of it, as if one was to dunk WALL•E in the ocean or something. As for “active water flows”, that depends on how active they’re suggesting the flow to be. My take on the matter is that they’re referring to, say, a flash flood and not a simple rain shower. Even a downpour of rain (as was demonstrated in the film) didn’t seem to affect WALL•E (or maybe it did to a certain extent… and we just didn’t see it; perhaps he had to perform some procedure afterwards to rid himself of all that water, or maybe he was designed in such a way that “flaps” or “shutters” were installed on certain parts of his body so that they’d close to keep rain out, or maybe the rain just didn’t affect him at all).

We’ll have to ask Mr. Stanton all these questions in the future. :wink:

A very interesting point, lizardgirl. I never thought of that…

– Mitch

#4

  1. Wall-E may have made from different sorts of metal, that may have made his immune from melting and heat. In the future technology is advanced, so the solar panel may have also advanced. Making it more efficient and more resistant to heat

  2. When Wall-E got stuck by the lightning, the electricity went through the umbrella, looking some of its energy. I think that the lighting may have gave Wall-E a shock instead of immobilizing him. While on the other hand when auto zapped Wall-E, the reason why wall-e was damaged may have because the shock when inside circuitry and overwhelmed it high voltage of current. If you look at a Taser, it attacks and disables the central nervous system for a short period of time, that may be the same mechanism Auto used to zap Wall-E

  3. Wall-e may be water proof from rain, but if the water enter his inside, he may be disabled.

#5

WALL•E: Built Ford Tough?
My answer: Yes!!
He was built to work in tough terrain, Ford Tough is an understatement.
Also, remember, WALL-E is a work of fiction.
Anyways:

  1. I think the solar scene was just an artistic choice, and it was only on-screen for a very quick moment. Remember, there’s no sound in space, yet in WALL-E there is. WALL-E is science-fiction, not science-fact (although there are elements in there that are factual).
  2. Again, WALL-E is probably built for natural things like lightning, but you have to remember, the lightning just struck WALL-E on his tough exterior, that could’ve just been his human like reaction to it. Auto electrocuted him directly in his memory chip with high voltage for a prolonged period.
    3,4) Again, the BnL ad said underwater, I’m sure the BnL guys would take into account that it rains, a lot of electronics today are water proof even, and WALL-E is outside all the time, if he didn’t have that capibility then no WALL-E’s would have functioned (while they were still active).
    WALL-E definitely has his weaknesess though, and I’m sure if you dropped him into the ocean he’d short circuit and if you put him in lava he’d quickly melt and if you beat him up enough (especially his chip, and he’s hollow after all) he’d shut down, but for the most part, he’s tough like a bulldozer.
    Remember, it’s just a movie… :smiley:
#6

However tough the story needs him to be.

I WIN!